Escaping the Gallows
by Que-The-Music
Summary: A girl is falsly accused of piracy and is condemed to the gallows, but when she escapes, she stows away on a ship. Only to find more than she bargined for.
1. The Noose

**Ok, My first Pirates fic. Be merciful!!!!**

Jane shifted her feet uncomforatabley. The shackles that bound her to the condemed in front and behind her cut in to her wrists and ankles. The gallows up ahead loomed, getting bigger and bigger with every step she took toward them. She was terrified. Every beat of the drums, and crank of the lever that dropped down the floor boards send a shiver down her spine. Yet she refused to cry. She refused to show any emotion other than pride, an emotion that was common among street children. She wasn't supposed to be there, wasn't supposed to be standing in line with a bunch of pirates waiting her turn to be hung. But there was no use in telling the Soldiers that she was innocent, they would just laugh in her face. Some of the soldiers were walking up and down the que of prisoners, taunting them. One of them had stopped by her.

"Do you feel fear? Fear for the British army?"

He had asked, holding her chin between his forefinger and thumb. She'd jerked away, disgusted.

"Answer me you wretch!"

He'd replied to her behavior, slapping her hard enough to make her fall back on the cold, wet stone. The shackles bit into her skin, drawing blood. Her curly black hair fell into her eyes, and the left side of her face burned.

Still she refused to cry, refused to give the officer sadisfaction. She was strong for her young age of nine, almost ten. She struggled to stand, slipping on the wet stone. She slowly walked toward the enemy, fuming with fury.

"I fear nothing!" she hissed .

The soldier was about to respond but Jane spat in his face. The officer roared with anger, and raised his fist. Jane cowared, ready to feel her skull get bashed in.

"Enough with the girl!" growled a plump black woman, stepping between Jane and the officer, keeping him from bashing in her skull.

The officer stepped back, surprised at the womans willingness to take a hit for a young girl she didn't even know.

His expression changed from dumbstruck to angry.

"She'll get her dues soon enough." he'd said and slunk off down the line.

The black woman smiled weakly, but there was fear in her eyes.

"You are brave," she'd said.

Jane was glad for the communication. It was bad to die, but worst to die alone.

Now, as she stumbled up the gnarled wooden steps to the gallows, she fell. Her shins banged on the stairs, and she felt tears welling in her eyes. She blinked them back. She'd been so strong, now was not the time for her to fall apart.

Standing on the trap door, the noose was a good foot above her head. The exacutioner dropped a crate in front of her and attempted to help her up.

She violently jerked him away and stepped up herself.

She held her head high as the cold wind blew her coal collared hair and whipped her tattered knee length skirt wildly.

Jane allowed the exacutioner to place the noose around her neck, it was taking all her strenght just to keep from crying.

Jane remembered the day this whole mess had started,

_It was raining_

_Jane was walking through the street, looking for a lost coin or a scrap of forgotten food. She had her eyes to the ground when she heard the gun shots. She turned around to see British officers , marching in a straight row, rifles raised, red uniforms glistening with rain. _

_Jane ran._

_Being a street kid, she had stolen, tricked and pillaged, any child would have been scared by the British army searching the streets. _

_She kept running blindly, the rain was showering making it hard to see where she was going. _

_All of a sudden there was a brick wall right in front of her face. The soldiers had cornered her in an alley. All around her were pirates that had tried running from the army. One by one the soldiers put shackles on all the people. They had taken them to a small cramped jail cell, not bothering to take off the shackles. They had been told that they were to be hung in a weeks time publicly. _

Now, a week later, she was standing on a crate waiting to die. She hung her head and closed her eyes. Suddenly the floor dropped. The noose tightened, but didn't break her neck. She realized that although the trapdoor had opened, part of it had gotten jammed. If she leaned toward the right she could support her weight enough to keep the noose from killing her.

The exacutioner was coming around, cutting the ropes. Jane allowed her body to go limp. The exacutioner, suspecting nothing, cut her rope.

Jane fell limply to the cold ground five feet below. She ached all over and now would have a major goose egg, but she gritted her teeth and allowed herself to be drug away with the rest of the bodies to the large pile at the middle of the square. Jane closed her eyes and thanked God for her luck at not being killed. A group of soldiers took all the shoes off the bodies and loaded them on to a cart.

Jane almost burst in to tears when she saw the plump black woman laying on the cart next to her. Her eyes were open but no longer showed fear, they were blank, lifless. That should have been her. People say that dead people look like they are sleeping, that is a lie, they just look dead. When the cart started to move through an alley, Jane rooled out of in and crouched in the shadows.

She was scratched all over, The shackles had not been removed and were killing her hands, ans she was alone. She had been holding back tears for a week and now she let them out, she cried herself in to a calm sleep.

She may be in the worst circumstances possible, but at least she was alive.

**Al right how was that? Not to bad…was it? Well you can tell me yourself, click that little purple button and review!!!!!**


	2. Finding the Pearl

**Ok, chapter 2 please keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times. Here we go! And even if you've already read this chapter, read it again, I cahnged it A LOT!!!!**

Jane awoke to a rumbling of thunder overhead. She rubbed her eyes, which were sore from crying. Her face was covered with dried tears. She stood up and stretched her weary limbs as a light rain began to fall on the city.

Jane sat down again, intending to sit out the rain. But when the sprinkle turned to a steady rain, and the steady rain turned to a downpour, Jane figured she wasn't about to get a stroke of luck. She stood up once again and began walking, tripping every few minutes because of the shackles that still bound her wrists and ankles painfully. She tried her best to make her way toward the docks, keeping to alleys so as to not be seen. She had to get out of Port Royale before a passer-byer saw a young girl dressed in rags wearing shackles. The last thing she needed was the East India Trading Company on her tail. Jane was walking cursing the East India Trading Company, and in her mind imajining stabbing Lord Bekket. Suddenly she felt a jerk at her ankles and was all of a sudden on the ground with a face full of mud.

"Bloody Shackles!" she cursed struggling to stand once more. As she gropped for something to help her stand, her hand made contact with a piece of wood. After standing once more she turned to the piece of wood.

_Blacksmith_

Jane had never really been taught to read, but she had picked up some information about the art from her fellow street children.

Standing, trying to figure out the sign, Jane remembered something, a memory from long ago.

_Jane was sitting on her mothers lap, they were on a boat, no a ship. A gentle wind was rocking it from side to side. Jane was not older than 4 or 5. Her mother was telling her of her father. She said that Jane looked exactly like him, with her curly black hair and dark brown eyes. Her mother had been teaching Jane to read for the past two days and Jane had suceeded in stumbling over an old ships log._

A briliant flash of lightening brought Jane back to the present. She turned back to the sign, determind to know its meaning. She knew what B was and A and she thought she knew L. Slowly she began to form a word.

"B-L-A...A-C..S-S-S..M-ITH? BLACKSMITH. Blacksmith!" cried Jane happy with herself.

Cautiously walking to the door, Jane slowly pushed it open. She cringed when it made a loud creaking noise. When she heard nothing, she tiptoed in, carful to leave the door open should she need to escape.

Jane took a look around the shop, and was horrified to see a sleeping man in one corner.

"H-hello?" she called softly. When he didn't respond she called a little louder. "Hello?"

The man still snored on. Feeling a little adventurous, Jane opened her mouth and let out a blood curtling scream that can only be emitted by a small girl.

The man in the corner still slumbered. Jane guessed he was drunk. She had to work quickly now, someone may have heard her scream. She walked over to a burning fire and pulled out a burning poker. Jane knew about welding, she had seen men at the docks do it. She had also seen her fair share of welding accidents. Gingerly she took the hot end of the poker and placed it in the lock of the shackles on her ankles. She heard a sizzle and then a click. Setting the poker back in the fire, she took hold of the shackle and pulled, it came off easily in her hand. After doing the same to her wrists, she made her way toward the door.

Before she got there something caught her eye, a sword, well actually many of them, hanging from a turner in the middle of the shop. A weapon could be useful, but she hated to steal. A snore from across the roommade up her mind for her. She grabbed the nearest sword and made a dash for the door. Back outside in the rain, now armed with a sword, Jane made her way toward the side of town where the docks were located. She needed to hop a ship.

Jane peeked out from behind a barrel. The rain had ceased which was bad. She had been counting on the bad weather to be her cover for when she stowed-away. The ship she was watching was large, with men bustling all over it, a parrot was squaking a nd a monkey was screeching. On the side were the words,

_Black Pearl._

The name had stirred something in Jane's memory that she couldn't quite put her finger on. When there was a slight cease in the action aboard the ship, Jane slipped on the gang plank. She sprinted over to a side of the deck where there were barrels stacked on top of each other. Jane ducked behind them just in time. From her hiding spot, Jane could see al the activity going on on the deck without being seen herself. A man with dred-locks and a bandanna walked on to the deck. He stopped to make a few orders and returned once more to the cellar. Jane figured he was the captain. Free of worries, Jane settled down to a quiet sleep.

Jane was bored out of her mind. She had awoken to find the ship rocking and swaying, After awaking she wasn't able to get back to sleep. They had been sailing for at least three hours and Jane ached all over. At least no one had found her.

The sun was begining to set which ment that Jane would soon be able to come out of her hiding place and hopefully find somthing to eat. After the Black Pearl had set sail, there had been a steady flow on and off the deck, not enough to be worried about being found, but enough to keep her tucked away behind the barrels. Finally, the sun went down and a night shift came to relieve the day workers. there were only about twelve people on the deck, but even so, Jane wanted to be sure that no one saw her. She gropped around in the growing darkness until she found a knot in the wood of the deck. Using the hilt of her sword, she hit the knot until it fell out into her hand. Afraid that someone mat have heard the noise, she threw the knot on to the other side of the deck, where it made a loud clattering.

While the night watch went to investagate, Jane quietly slipped out from behind the barrels and down the stairway. As she came to the bottem, there was a celler like room, with two doors leading off of it. Jane took the left one, which led her to another hall. She walked to the end and opened the last door; shutting it quickly when she saw that it held hamocks full of sleeping pirates.

Hoping for a stroke of luck, Jane tried the door directly across from it. The room was completley dark so Jane had to leave the door to the hall open for light, and hope that no one saw. Still, the room was very dark, and Jane could only make out the looming shapes of a shelf and some barrels.

She gropped around the shelf until she found somthing that felt like a candle. running out in to the hall, Jane stood on tip-toe to light the candle on the single lantern.

Holding her hand behind the flame, so as to not blow it out, Jane returned to the room, delighted to see that she had found the ships store room.

Jane ran to the nearest barrel and pried it open. She dipped her hand in and took a sip, only to spit it back out again. The awful taste that was in her mouth could only be one thing, rum. She whiped her mouth on her sleeve and opened another barrel, horrified, and disguseted to find that it held more rum. Finally she found a water barrel, using a dipper that was hanging from the side, she drank long and hungarily.

Finally with her thirst satisfied, she moved on to find some food. After eating her fill, and packing some aaay for later, Jane took a final drink of water.

She was about to turn to go back to hiding, when a shaddow formed in the light from the door.

"So," came a voice, "You think that you can stow-away, eat our rations, and get away with it,"

**OOOOOOOOOOO A CLIFF HANGER, Who could it be! you'll have to click the purple button to find out!**


	3. Stowaway

1**Here is chapter three, but guys, even if you have already read chapter 2, read it again, I changed it a lot.**

Jane stopped, a cornmeal muffin halfway to her mouth. Turning around slowly, she saw the hulking figure of a groggy pirate in the lamplight. He had large rippling muscles, and a large amount of stubble on his chin. A half drunk bottle of rum confirmed Jane's thought that he was drunk. The large mans other fist was balled in a fist so tight that his knuckles were white.

Jane looked nervously at the fist, silently praying that it would not make her skull it's target.

"Well!" roared the pirate," answer me you wench!"

The words felt like an electric shock as they brought back memories of standing in line with the soldier about to knock out her teeth, an expression that was now on the face of the angry pirate before her.

With a crash, the drunk Pirate broke the bottle on the doorframe, sending glass everywhere. Rum was dripping all over the floor, and the man was still holding the dangerous bottle.

Jane glanced at the jagged edges, knowing where they would make their target. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for and escape rout.

Finally, knowing it was her only choice, Jane flung herself on the ground between the mans feet, sliding to momentary safety. She crawled out the door, ignoring the pain from the glass embedded in her palms and knees.

Knowing that the pirate would be after her soon, Jane jumped up and sprinted down the narrow hall, hearing the man yelling.

"Stowaway! In The Hall!!"

A door opened in front of her, but she slammed it shut before anyone could stop her. She was now at the stair, leaping up the steps two at a time. She didn't really know where she was going, she just knew that she could not be found. Stowaways were often punished harshly, and girls were no exception. She got to the top of the stairs, not knowing what to do. She couldn't go back to her original hiding spot, they would find her there. She ran to the front of the ship, ducking in a small crevice. She peered out at the chaos on the deck. Men were coming up from the stairs, looking left and right.

She reached her right hand up to look for something to cover herself better.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist.

Jane looked up, stifling a gasp.

Holding her arm was a man, Dred-locks that were covered in a bandanna covered his head, a smile was on his face.

"Hello, Love."

**I mean it you guys! I will not write anymore until I get at least 3 reviews! And let me tell you! I can be stubborn**

_**Sarah**_


	4. Blackout

**Yay for Peanut Butter!**

**Just a little randomness to get you ready to read!**

Most people are born with two survival reflexes. Fight or Flight. The choice to either run away or battle it out.

Jane, being a street child for most of her life, had only ever used one of those reflexes.

Fight.

She knew that if you ran, whoever, or whatever it was that was behind you would get you sooner or later, and most likely kill you.

That is why, as Jane knelt on the **Pearl**, arm brandished by a pirate, wind blowing her black hair, she knew she had only one choice. There was no where to run anyway.

In one swift movement, Jane swung her leg around, hitting the Pirate squarely in the shins. The man faltered, but did not fall like she had expected.

In fact he looked almost amused.

Jane knew that getting away from him was her only hope. Truly she didn't know why he hadn't yet alerted the rest of the crew.

She looked at the filthy hand holding her wrist. Knowing that if she twisted her arm clockwise, and yanked, he would either have to let go, or break his own arm. Given the circumstances, the point that the man was larger than her, she knew that the force would probably break her own wrist. It was her only choice.

Kicking her left leg up, she delivered a powerful blow to the pirates groin. He doubled over, a gasp escaping his lips.

He would soon recover, so Jane had to work quickly. All at once, she twisted her arm, hearing a loud crack, but also feeling his hand give way.

Jane stood up, looking around wildly. The pain in her wrist was unbearable, making her feel dizzy. The world began to spin and black dots began blocking her view little by little. Somewhere far off, she could hear someone yelling that they had spotted someone.

_Oh great!_ Jane thought. She looked around, hoping to find some sort of shelter before she passed out. Her eyes fell on the crows nest, and the rope ladder leading to it. In her state, it would be a miracle if she got even half way up.

Still, she made a dash for it, weaving and staggering. Reaching out, she steadied herself on the rope rung.

The men were behind her now, Jane could hear them right behind her.

She pulled herself up to the first rung, a shooting pain grasping her wrist. She screamed out in pain but kept going,

rung two, then three, four, her wrist was now limp, totally useless, five, the black dots were taking over, six, she was halfway there, seven, someone else was climbing up after her, shaking the ladder.

She never made it to eight. Her hand slipped, just as her world plunged in to darkness.

She was falling, falling, falling.

**I know wit was a short chapter, but I can't write unless I get reviews! **


End file.
